Collecting NTFPs is not only a traditional tribal activity
for survival but it could also be converted into an effective instrument for
eradicating poverty. This paper presents three concepts that may be examined
further. Though NTFPs has value as economic good, imperfections in marketing
result in very low realization or at times disastrous sale. Unless we address
the problem of marketing we cannot really make NTFP collection a reliable source
of income. Tribal Development Cooperative Corporations (TDCCs) are expected to
protect the tribal communities from exploitative middlemen and traders, but they
are not in a position to buy the entire produce in order to command the price of
that commodity. The other concept is closely related to the above - though
commercial crops have support prices, the most perishable items like NTFPs do
not have any such support. Perhaps this is because the tribal communities who
collect the NTFPs are total dependents on the generosity of successive
governments and do not belong to the vocally strong sectors. One could easily
notice that the people who are vulnerable to environmental degradation are from
the same sectors that have been discouraged from utilizing the resources
efficiently based on their own knowledge gained over time. The present
arrangement of self-help approach to resource utilization is in fact creating
conflict between various implementing agencies, ultimately affecting the members
of the self-help groups.

INTRODUCTION

Poverty alleviation should be an essential part of efficient
utilization of resources since socially vulnerable sectors will be economically
unprepared to participate in nation building in its true sense. Only active
partners can realize the responsibility of conserving and utilizing the
resources in an optimal way. Optimal utilization and equitable distribution of
assets among its citizens is the hallmark of efficient administration.

Poverty in a developing country is therefore the result of
under-utilization or inadequate access to natural resources. Rural Poverty is
the result of under-utilization due to environmental degradation and tribal
poverty is the result of inadequate access to resources. In the process the
medium (i.e. the administration) has gobbled up the message (of development and
empowerment). Proliferation of programmes has perpetuated poverty, and now
poverty alleviation is an industry by itself. Poor have been reduced to mere raw
material for the formation of successive dispensations irrespective of their
colour.

NTFP IN POVERTY ALLEVIATION

The tribal areas, though widely known as regular source for
most of NTFP commodities and the tribes depend on NTFP for their sustenance,
there is no substantial market development for the NTFPs. Open market forces are
playing havoc with tribal economy.

The TDCCs continue to have a significant role in the tribal
economy as they procure major quantities brought by the tribes offering best
possible prices irrespective of their demand and supply positions even in
extreme market conditions. The trading of NTFP commodities by TDCCs is expected
to achieve:

Monetary inflow
into tribal economy

Significantly higher prices
and income for NTFP collectors.

Gradual stabilization of
prices in the market preventing all vagaries of supply and demand
conditions.

A glance at the prices paid by Girijan Cooperative Corporation
(GCC) would reveal that the policy of TDCCs is to ensure reasonable prices and
insulat the tribes from wild market fluctuations. The purchase prices paid by
GCC during the last five years are given in Annex I. In contrast, the private
traders purchase only certain NTFPs in a limited quantity of selected quality by
offering occasionaly higher prices. In order to protect the interest of NTFP
collectors and provide remunerative purchase prices, the TDCC needs to maintain
the price line without making downward revisions in the purchase prices even
when there is a significant downward trend so as to ensure steady income to all
the tribal NTFP collectors across the state. The resultant loss is being borne
by TDCC from thin margins generated on sale of other NTFP commodities. A glance
at the purchase prices paid for the 25 NTFP items handled by GCC would give us a
clear picture on market trends and fluctuations in the prices of NTFP. There are
about eight NTFP items like gums and resins, tree born oil seeds and honey
shikakai, where GCC can expect margins. Whereas bulk commodities like tamarind,
myrobalans, marking nuts, soapnuts, and gum dikamal, the GCC has to react
according to market fluctuations either by downward revision of purchase prices
or by incurring losses.

Procurement of tamarind

Tamarind is the single largest bulk NTFP commodity, and as
many as 100 000 families of coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh depend on
tamarind collection for their livelihood. Hence GCC procures as much as possible
and tries to pay remunerative purchase prices year after year and make efforts
to dispose stocks through negotiations, auction cum tenders, value addition for
retail sales, etc. (Table 1).

Table 1. Seeded tamarind procurement and average
purchase prices for 1995 to 2003

Year

Quantity(Qtls.)

Value(100 000 Rs)

Average purchase price(Rs)

1995

29 900

130.14

433

1996

56 906

293.60

515

1997

65 038

330.60

516

1998

33 610

183.62

546

1999

44 833

317.29

707

2000

51 500

385.92

750

2001

146 787

846.74

578

2002

33 731

124.25

368

2003

50 000

200.00

400

The above figures clearly show GCC's commitment to pay
remunerative purchase prices year after year up to year 2000. During 1999 and
2000 seasons, GCC has entered into an advance tie up with Tribal Marketing
Federation (TRIFED) for marketing of tamarind and paid Rs. 650 to 750 per
quintal in 1999 and 2000 seasons. Despite a glut in market for tamarind, in
order to maintain the price stability, GCC has paid around Rs.600 per Qtl during
2001 season and procured 146 000 Qtls of seeded tamarind and efforts are being
continued to dispose of the stocks. During subsequent years, GCC was forced to
revise purchase prices downward during 2003 season to act according to market
conditions and the tribal communities were deprived of support prices.

Procurement of Myrobalans

Myrobalans is another major NTFP collected by a 100 000 tribal
communities to a tune of 20 000 Qtls per annum on average. The principal user is
the leather processing industry. Based on the market trend, the GCC is paying
remunerative purchase prices to the tribal communities and the marketing efforts
are being made to sell the product to different user industries through auctions
and tenders. Due to the availability of synthetic substitutes in leather
processing industry, the usage of Myrobalans has come down drastically. Now
virtually there is no market. The GCC is forced to cut down the purchase prices
to keep in tune with discouraging market conditions.

Constraints in the disposal of other NTFPs

The other commodities like markingnuts, soapnuts and mohwa
seed and gum decamali, also experience inconsistency in sale due to violent
market fluctuations, government policies, seasonality, heavy influx, etc. TDCC
has to act according to market situations, revising purchase prices upward or
downward. This is often leading to unrest among the tribal community But there
is no mechanism to pay steady prices to all NTFP items to ensure their earnings
by assuring at least the price paid in the previous year (Table 2).

Table 2. The trends of purchase prices of some
commodities during 1999-2003

Year

Markingnuts

Soapnuts

Gum dikamali

Mohwa seed

1999

300

1100

1000

1000

2000

300

1200

1000

700

2001

200

1200

1700

650

2002

200

600

1500

900

2003

250

800

1100

-

Need for minimum support price for NTFPs

In light of above, till the tribal economy is geared up and
empowered with requisite knowledge base, the GCC has proposed to the Government
of India to implement a national policy on NTFP trade providing minimum support
prices for all NTFPs. In the absence of such policy, the tribal communities are
deprived of opportunities in terms of increased purchase prices. The Minimum
Support Price (MSP) mechanism prevailing for agricultural produce and which is
benefiting the farmers should also be extended to tribal NTFP gatherers, as they
are the poorest of the poor.

Developing NTFP trade to eradicate poverty

Collecting NTFP is not only a traditional activity of tribal
communities as means of livelihood but also could be an effective instrument of
eradicating poverty. In this context there are three concepts that worth
examining further.

Creating markets so as to command a
price

Though NTFP has value as economic goods, the market
imperfections result in very low realization or at times distressed sale. Unless
we address the problem of marketing we cannot really make NTFP collection a
reliable source of income. Apart from innocence on the part of the tribal
communities, grinding poverty compels them to dispose off the produce at
whatever rate it fetches. Further, the very nature of the produce compels them
to dispose it off as early as possible. This vulnerability is exploited by the
buyer. TDCCs are expected to protect the tribal communities from exploitative
middlemen and traders, but they are not in a position to buy the entire produce
due to financial constraints. Unless the entire produce is controlled by the
TDCC it cannot command the price of that commodity. Unfortunately TDCCs have
become one of the buyers instead of emerging as the sole buyer. This has
continued the strangle hold of local traders on the NTFP market. Even the TRIFED
whose objective is to develop markets for NTFP, has become one of the TDCCs at
national level. Fortunately it is now seriously thinking of reorienting itself
to market development.

Recognizing the right to support price as creation of
market for NTFP

The other effective measure could be to ensure support price
but most perishable items like NTFP do not have any such support. Perhaps this
is because the tribal communities who collect the NTFP are dependent on the
generosity of successive governments. Since tribal communities do not command
the recognition that the vocal sectors get, their labour also does not get the
value it deserves. Over the years this situation is further worsened as the
tribal communities are made more dependent on the doles of the
government.

Perspective planning based on traditional
wisdom

One could easily notice that the people who are vulnerable to
environmental degradation are from the same sectors who have been discouraged
from utilizing the resources efficiently based on their own knowledge gained
over time. Peasants who are dependent on agriculture, artisans whose activities
are centered around agriculture, fishermen dependent on water, tribal
communities dependent on forests have not been given any meaningful role either
in the conservation of the resources or their optimum utilization. With
increasing degradation of our natural resources these sectors have become
victims of socio-economic discrimination. Disuse of minor irrigation sources,
especially the small tanks, is the result of negligence on the part of
administration and recurrent natural calamities either in the form of drought or
untimely rains. Rural economy has been completely destabilized with the gradual
disuse of minor irrigation sources.

In order to alleviate rural poverty with special reference to
tribal communities we need to have a two-pronged approach:

Respectable and
meaningful role to the local communities in the conservation of resources;
and

Marketing strategies to
generate income through value addition to local resources.

The current state of participation of local communities as
stake holders/ users groups is not satisfactory, since they are still
apprehensive of their role and status in the conservation and utilization of
resources. They are still treated as beneficiaries under one or the other
programme which gets them some temporary monetary benefits. It is necessary,
therefore to create awareness among them about the need for a perspective plan
based on native wisdom and local knowledge.

The present arrangement of self help approach to resource
utilization is in fact creating conflict among various implementing agencies,
ultimately affecting the members of the self help groups. At times the members
are of the opinion that the institutional network created in the past is an
obstacle. This view is the result of fragmented visions of various government
departments aiming at reaching the goal of alleviating rural poverty all by
themselves.

TRIBAL ECONOMY IN ANDHRA PRADESH - THE ROLE OF
GCC

In Andhra Pradesh, the government has established GCC in 1956
for socio-economic uplifting of tribal communities in the state with the
following objectives:

To ensure
remunerative purchase prices for the NTFP collected by the tribals from the
forests of Andhra Pradesh.

To ensure availability of
essential commodities even in the interior agency areas through a network of DR
depots.

To provide support to the
tribal communities in their agricultural activities through extending credit
facilities.

The government vested GCC with monopoly rights on 25 NTFP
(Annex II) commodities available in the forests. The primary purpose of having
state control on NTFP is to ensure competitive price to tribal gatherers on one
hand and keeping the rampant exploitation by private traders under check on the
other. With the help of monopoly rights for NTFP items and guidelines issued by
government on pricing policy, GCC is purchasing entire quantities of NTFP from
tribal communities irrespective of their commercial viability and efforts are
being made for disposal of the stocks.

Concentrating on certain NTFP

Though there are many commodities collected by the tribal
communities only certain NTFP has continuous demand. Buying all the NTFPs with
shrinking markets because of substitutes would result in locking up of meager
financial resources. This would compel the TDCC to decrease the purchase price
or abandon the purchase of the NTFPs in the following year. In order to utilise
the financial resources effectively GCC is concentrating on certain NTFPs, which
have market, at least within the country such as gums, honey, shikakai, soapnut,
nuxvomica, pungamseed, naramamidi bark, hill brooms, sugandipala, and mohwa
seed.

It would be appropriate for TDCC to become the sole buyer of
these commodities. Similarly, all TDCCs should concentrate on certain NTFPs that
have market in that state. Further TRIFED has to develop markets for at least 25
kinds of NTFPs either at national level or international level. Initially, these
25 kinds should be given support prices so that the tribal communities would be
assured of reasonable income.

Increasing the quantum of procurement

As many primitive tribal groups (PTGs) are still totally
dependent on NTFPs, increasing the quantum of procurement is giving them
employment at least for nine months a year. Procurement of NTFPs from drought
prone areas like Rayalaseema has become a continuous activity throughout the
year.

Identification of new NTFPs for sustainable
income

Recent shift to herbal medicines and increasing demand for
natural products resulted in growing dependence on forests, the rich source of
these herbal plants. However, due to unorganized exploitation, most of these
species are either degenerating or under threat from external environment. GCC
has made some organized efforts in this new area.

With its long time experience in handling and marketing NTFPs,
GCC can take up the procurement and can become dependable supplier of medicinal
herbs too. GCC foresees tremendous business potential as a continuous source of
income. GCC plans to train tribal communities in the identification, collection
and handling of herbal plants to prevent wrong handling and over exploitation.
GCC organises training programmes for field staff and tribal farmers on the
identification of plants, hygienic handling, techniques of shade drying,
preserving, packing and transporting the material.

The GCC has carried out a quantitative resource survey in East
Godavari District to scan and quantify medicinal herbs in these areas. As many
as 210 medicinal herbs (plants and tree species) were identified and their
average densities determined. Of these 210 items, 42 medicinal plants were found
having high economic value, which would help to increase the income level of the
tribal communities if collection was permitted.

Medicinal Herbs Department, with a library and a herbarium,
was established at GCC's Corporate Office to identify the species and to liaise
with divisional offices for procurement and marketing.

Depending on the availability of herbs in A.P. forests and the
demand, GCC has been requesting the government for extending the monopoly rights
for procurement of herbs.

The role of forest department

The Rayalaseema tribal area is inhabitated by two Primitive
Tribal Groups (PTGs), Chenchus and Yanadis. This region is a drought prone area.
The PTGs are mainly depending on collection of medicinal plants and selling them
in the open market stealthily, since there is no agency equipped with suitable
system for encouraging the collection and marketing of medicinal plants. The
existing enactments are causing problems to the PTGs in the collection of
medicinal plants. In this situation the middlemen are operating invisibly and
getting the benefit. In view of the above it has been proposed that GCC be
allowed to procure medicinal herbs from PTGs.

Based on the findings of the quantitative resource survey, GCC
could assist in collection and marketing of medicinal plants in East Godavari
district. GCC is procuring 25 items of MFP in the tribal area on monopoly basis
since1956. GCC and forest department are cooperating to serve the tribal
communities for increasing income level by regularizing the procurement and
marketing of medicinal plants.

Forest department shall promote cultivation of medicinal
plants in coordination with divisional managers of GCC in phases replacing the
commercial crops, with the financial aid of Integrated Tribal Development Agency
(ITDAs). GCC and forest department in joint coordination with ITDAs shall
promote the regeneration of high valued species of medicinal plants as part of
Vana Samarakshana Samithis (VSS) activity.

The forest department is promoting people's organizations
known as VSS, for preservation and conservation of forests. The forest
department has promoted the concept of VSS not only for providing avocation but
also to ensure the people's participation. While enlightening them in regular
meetings, the VSS members may be encouraged to put main thrust on plantation,
nursery raising, preservation and procurement of medicinal plants, which would
pave way for generating more income to tribal communities. The forest department
may extend its helping hand in identification and training of the tribal members
for promoting medicinal plants and marketing.

Role of the government

The effective implementation of regeneration programme is only
possible with the intervention of the Government and inflow of funds. Meanwhile
GCC made a provision of Rs.3 million exclusively for the purpose of raising
nurseries of other NTFP and requested ITDA and TRIFED for a matching
contribution. A similar proposal was also made to Government for release of
Rs.200 million so that Rs.30 million can be earmarked exclusively for
regeneration programme.

Forward sale

In order to stabilize the price of NTFPs, GCC is now going for
advance sale agreements with the buyers. This ensures the sale of commodities
with better purchase prices to the NTFP collectors. The purchase price is
decided on the basis of sale price offered by the prospective buyers. An
additional benefit of this system is that the funds can be utilized efficiently.
By utilising the sale proceeds new stock of NTFPs is being purchased, so that
the locking up funds is avoided.

Processing centers and value addition

NTFPs as raw material cannot command a price due to its
perishable nature whereas processed NTFPs could be stored for a longer period.
Improving the shelf life will enhance the scope for processing large quantities
of NTFP. Processing centres are set up for value addition that would fetch
better price for NTFPs. There are processing centres for five kinds of NTFPs,
honey, shikakai, soapnut, amla, tamarind and soap making.

Retail marketing of NTFPs

New
processing units

Value addition to NTFPs would realize better value than
disposing them in raw form. With this concept, the GCC has established the
following processing units to convert raw NTFP into ready-to-use products and
steps have been initiated to market these products in branded form through a
distribution network.

Introduction of new
products

To capture the full market potential for forest based
value-added products, a new range of products has been introduced to the
existing product line. The major thrust has been given to promote the sale of
the following Girijan products in consumer packs: honey, turmeric soaps, neem
soaps, flower tamarind, pulp tamarind, tamarind (deseeded & seeded),
Shikakai powder, soapnuts, soapnut powder, amla powder, hill brooms, rajmah
(red, white & kashmiri), white beans, and dry chilies.

Improvement in retail
sales

There is a steep rise in sales, recording 100 percent growth
rate year after year from the financial year 1999 onwards. The following are the
details:

Year

Performance(100 000Rs)

19992000

88.00

20002001

150.49

20012002

316.31

20022003

450.00

Strengthening the distribution network

As many as 70 distributors are appointed in all the major
cities and towns in Andhra Pradesh. GCC is also supplying the consumer products
to welfare hostels, jails, endowments and PSU Cooperatives, etc.

Brand building
activity

All the products developed have been brought under the
umbrella of "Girijan" brand name and marketed through distribution networks.
Campaigning activity through various promotional media to complement the retail
efforts is in progress. This has enhanced the corporate and product image among
the public and consumers.

Regeneration programme

GCC has taken up regeneration of important NTFP species in the
forest areas of north coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh with a total outlay of
Rs. 4980 000. The implementing agency is the AP Forest Department. Advanced
operation and nursery rising of ten important NTFP species in these districts
have been completed. Plantation work is in progress at Visakhapatnam
district.

Training to NTFP collectors for quality
control

Imparting training to tribal communities on a continuous basis
is in progress for the last ten years on scientific collection of NTFPs. This
has resulted in improving the quality and realization of higher sales value.
Adoption of new techniques in tapping the gum karaya has led to increase in the
quality yields and in turn passing on higher purchase prices to tribal
communities from Rs. 30 per kg to Rs. 125 per kg.

CONCLUSION

Socially
vulnerable sectors will be economically weak and naturally unprepared to
participate in the developmental programmes.

Tribal poverty is due to
inadequate access to natural resources.

Creating markets should be the
aim of the governments so as to command reasonable and sustainable
prices.

Recognizing the right for
support price is a step towards creating market for NTFP.

Perspective planning based on
traditional wisdom and sustainability is needed.

Concentrating on selective
NTFPs that have continuous demand is the need of the hour.

TRIFED should develop markets
for at least 25 kinds of NTFPs in the country.

Value addition and processing
centres should be developed on a large scale.